Municipal News & Jobs

Municipal News & Jobs2018-08-05T16:28:50-05:00

Kansas Municipal News

Iola Council approves rules for local solar, wind power users

The Iola City Council approved changes Monday to its municipal code for electric customers who take advantage of parallel generation, like solar or wind power. Moving forward, utility customers will be limited to installing systems that generate no more than 4% over their peak monthly consumption. For energy delivered to the City of Iola’s grid, customers will be credited on a yearly basis. The ordinance falls in line with Kansas statutes. The restrictions apply to all electric customers, not just residences.
Source: The Iola Register

Squirrel cited as cause of outage in Iola

A curious squirrel found out the hard way that some objects should never be climbed. The furry-tailed rodent made its way last Wednesday atop a breaker within the Oak Street substation, which powers much of the central part of Iola. The squirrel proved to be a suitable conductor for 69,000 volts of electricity to arc through its body with a mighty jolt and fireball. The breaker sustained extensive damage from the subsequent explosion, causing a power outage for several minutes.
Source: The Iola Register

Municipal Bond Trends for September 27, 2023

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Municipal Bond Trends for September 26, 2023

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Retail muni bond ownership trends hold in second quarter

The municipal bond market grew in the second quarter as household and exchange-traded fund ownership of municipal securities rose, while ownership by mutual funds, U.S. banks and life insurers fell, the latest Federal Reserve data shows. … Household ownership of individual bonds — which includes direct ownership of individual bonds in brokerage accounts, fee-based advisory accounts or separately managed accounts — remained the largest category of muni ownership at 43%. Household ownership of munis rose $11.9 billion, or 0.7% quarter-over-quarter, to $1.695 trillion. Mutual funds owned 19.4% of the market at $762.9 billion, 0.3%, … Exchange-traded funds … account for 2.7% of muni ownership. U.S. banks held 13.9% of individual bonds in the second quarter, at $548.3 billion, down $18.5 billion or 3.3% quarter-over-quarter. Insurance companies had 10.8% ownership…
Source: The Bond Buyer

Nick Gregory resigns as McPherson’s City Administrator to serve as Maize’s new City Manager

After 14 years of commitment and service to the City of McPherson, Nick Gregory today (Sept. 26, 2023) announced his resignation as City Administrator. After the announcement during the McPherson City Commission’s regularly-scheduled meeting, the commission voted to accept Gregory’s resignation. Gregory, who moved from Great Bend to McPherson in 2009, will remain until Nov. 10, 2023, before embarking on his new opportunity as City Manager in Maize. Upon his departure, the McPherson Commission also approved appointing Assistant City Administrator/Finance Director Daniela Rivas as Interim City Administrator.
Source: McPherson, KS – News Flash

“Celebrating Our Heritage” at Greater Andover Days

The 56th Greater Andover Days festival is set for Thursday, September 28 – Sunday, October 1, 2023. Festivities will kick off at The Heritage, located at the corner of Yorktown and US-54 in Andover with a BBQ dinner, music, dancing and more. Join the community in Central Park starting Friday, September 29, 5 p.m. for food trucks, carnival, and more activities. Greater Andover Days (GAD) is a four-day festival that occurs the 4th weekend after Labor Day. The event offers handfuls of fun, food, and entertainment for the entire family. Over 5,000 people attend GAD annually.
Source: Andover American

A Kansas gardener sued to sell fruit and honey. Now her town will allow urban farming

Ottawa will now allow small-scale urban agriculture — a move designed to accommodate residents who want to raise chickens and to resolve a homeowner’s lawsuit over the right to sell fruit and honey. City lawyer Blaine Finch said the goal is to let residents produce food in their yards without impinging on the welfare of their neighbors. “Frankly, agriculture is one of the original activities in this area,” Finch told city commissioners at a recent meeting. “The city hall is built on the site of Tauy Jones’ wild berry patch … It’s as old as the community, if not older.”
Source: KCUR News

Fire Rescue issues child life saving devices for local schools

The Columbus Fire Rescue has announced a program using lifesaving Life Vac devices in the local schools and childcare facilities. Life Vac devices are designed to aide in the removal of foreign substances causing choking to happen in school aged children. The Fire Rescue state this device while effective, should be a last choice option, not replacing the Heimlich or the normal back elbow instructions.
Source: KOAM News

Labette Community College celebrates 100 years with Birthday Bash

Labette Community College is celebrating 100 years with their 100th Birthday Bash celebration. Alums and the community of Parsons were welcome to enjoy free food and fun. Kenneth Ervin, an LCC graduate from 1947, spoke at the college’s 100th-anniversary celebration. He shared a story about playing on a team under then-coach Carnie Smith. LCC’s President, Mark Watkins, also spoke, emphasizing the significance of the centenary. LCC officially turned 100 on September 12th but has ongoing celebrations planned throughout the school year, including a Kids Fall Fest on October 23rd and an LCC 100-Year history exhibit from March 18th to April 24th.
Source: KOAM News

Chanute landmark takes center stage as sales tax vote nears

Funding for upgrades to Chanute’s historic train depot will hinge on an upcoming sales tax referendum. Local voters will decide in the November general election whether to extend a quarter-cent sales tax to fund upgrades for a number of city facilities, including the old Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Train Depot, which houses the Chanute Public Library and the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum. The building, which was last remodeled in the early 1990s, faces a laundry list of needs, most prominently a new HVAC system priced at $1 million or more.
Source: The Iola Register

Fairgrounds questions prompts local officials to formalize decision-making process

Various local officials said Monday they need a formal process for making decisions together for things like CiCo Park. During Monday’s intergovernmental luncheon, Manhattan, Riley County, K-State and USD 383 officials discussed potential changes and updates to the fairgrounds and CiCo park, which is owned jointly by USD 383, Riley County and Manhattan. As previously reported, a task force looking at possible relocation or additions for the Riley County Fairgrounds and said it would like to see a venue that could host all kinds of live events. Former county commissioner and fairgrounds task force member Dave Lewis said it is important to expand the task force to include officials from the Manhattan city government, USD 383 and K-State because those entities could benefit and have a stake in the expansion.
Source: themercury.com

Wichita developing tree-planting progam

The City of Wichita is moving ahead with plans for a program to protect and expand the tree canopy in the community, and a study has identified 17 areas where trees are most needed. An update to a proposed tree policy was presented to City Council members in a workshop meeting Tuesday, and it identifies 17 “heat islands” that have been created by a lack of trees or the loss of trees in neighborhoods.   A study was conducted by the NASA Langley Research Team that looked at the relationship between heat, trees and the environment.  The city’s arborist, Gary Farris, said residents in those heat islands are being disproportionately affected by higher temperatures.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

Dimon warns that the Fed could still raise interest rates sharply from here

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is warning that interest rates could go up quite a bit further as policymakers face the prospects of elevated inflation and slow growth. Though Federal Reserve officials have indicated that they are near the end of their rate-hiking cycle, the head of the largest U.S. bank by assets said that may not necessarily be the case. In fact, Dimon said in an interview with The Times of India that the Fed’s key borrowing rate could rise significantly from its current targeted range of 5.25%-5.5%. He said that when the Fed raised the rate from near-zero to 2%, it was “almost no move,” while the increase from there to the current range merely “caught some people off guard.”
Source: CNBC

Wellsville schools celebrate completion of $18.1 million improvement project

Ryan Bradbury took a moment Saturday to celebrate an achievement that took years to reach. All of those hours spent in meetings, researching, checking and double-checking had come down to this moment, and he was going to relish it. Standing in the shadow of the newly renovated entrance to Wellsville High School, Bradbury, USD 289 Wellsville School District superintendent, watched as board members cut a blue ribbon, formally opening the doors on an $18.1 million facilities project. “This is an exciting time for our students and our community,” Bradbury said. “Generations of Wellsville families have been educated within these walls. This project preserves our schools for many more generations to come while also addressing the community’s long-term needs.” On Saturday, Bradbury described the event as a celebration not just of the years of work it took to get there, but of the progress and commitment made to the future.
Source: Ottawa Herald

Salina hosting U.S. National Aerobatic Championships for fourth year

People in Salina may notice some unusual sights and sounds coming from the sky near the airport as the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships take place this week. The championships, hosted now for the fourth year at the Salina Regional Airport, features 85 pilots competing in the air sport of aerobatics. This is the fourth time in the past five years, with one year taken off due to COVID, that the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships has taken place at Salina Regional Airport. “There are a lot of things that factor into the right place to have it,” said Shad Coulson, the contest director this year. “Location is certainly one. We want it to be as central as possible in the U.S. which makes it as enticing for folks from across the country to come to the national event.” In addition to being centrally located, Coulson said it’s important to have the resources available to the competitors and the support staff and volunteers at the airport. “The airport here is amazing, with good facilities (and) good hangar space to keep all these beautiful, valuable airplanes protected from the elements,” Coulson said.
Source: Salina Journal

Take a walk through time: Eagle Scout completes historic tour of Tecumseh

Here, in this overlooked brick building now serving as a post office, was a general store that was a center of trade for the sleepy town of Tecumseh, Carter Vincent points out. Right next door, an old barn structure is all that remains of the original medical practice, whose physician has long since passed but whose legacy is best seen in the hundreds of babies he helped deliver through the turn of the 19th century. Less than a block away are the sites of several firsts for Shawnee County — a first courthouse, a first church — that served as the foundation for the area’s eventual future as the seat of Kansas’ state government. These pieces of history could be easily missed when walking by, much more so when driving. But it’s history that Vincent, a freshman at Shawnee Heights High School, is keen to preserve through his Eagle Scout project. … ‘During COVID, my family and I traveled around the state, and we learned about the history in these little towns,’ Vincent said. ‘I combined my love of history and my love of walking, which I grew during COVID, to feature historic Tecumseh.’
Source: CJonline

Lawmakers vow to LAVTR fund: Shawnee County pushes back in advocating for local relief

Tensions flared as state and local politicians clashed over property taxes, setting the stage for what is likely to be a heated tax dispute next legislative session. The area of agreement is a mutual desire to cut property taxes. The dispute is over whether the state should put money into a fund intended to help pay for local property tax cuts, or if the state should cut its own property taxes. A movement has been growing to fund the local ad valorem tax reduction fund, or LAVTR, for the first time in 20 years. The LAVTR remains part of state law, but the Legislature regularly opts to strip its funding, as is the case for the current fiscal year. Without further legislative action, the state would transfer $27 million into the LATVR next fiscal year.
Source: CJonline

Kansas faces shortfall of 34,000 college-educated workers through 2030

A new labor report revealed the current annual rate of degree and certificate completion at Kansas colleges and universities would be insufficient to meet anticipated growth in demand for young, educated workers and could leave the state’s economy with an estimated 34,000 shortfall by end of this decade. Analysis by the Institute for Policy and Social Research at the University of Kansas delved into challenges of surging higher education attainment in Kansas despite a declining percentage of high school graduates interested in college, the out-migration of Kansas college graduates to Missouri, Colorado and Texas, and the lack of competitiveness of salaries paid Kansas workers in engineering, business and other fields compared to peers in nearby states. Failure of state lawmakers, education leaders and employers to address labor gaps, especially demand for recipients of bachelor’s degrees, could impede economic development through 2030.
Source: KAKE – News

City leaders host meeting for those interested in running Wichita Animal Shelter

The process of finding new management for the Wichita Animal Shelter is underway. On Monday, the City of Wichita hosted an informational session for people interested in taking on the role. The Wichita Police Department has been managing the shelter, but the City wants this to change so police can focus on picking up strays, sick and injured animals, and dead animals. Police would still handle animal bites, animal cruelty, and neglect investigations. The City hopes the new operator improves communication with rescue partners to find homes for abandoned pets and provide vet care. The Kansas Humane Society, which has been a partner with the Wichita Animal Shelter since they moved next door in 2009, was part of the discussion.
Source: KSN-TV

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